Welcome to the JJB'S Water Electrolysis
Justin Nguyen, Jenny Nguyen & Billy Le
" Dude, I can't believe that we finished this project in 2 days! "
— Jenny Nguyen
— Jenny Nguyen
Stage 1 - INVESTIGATE
Introduction.
Statement of the problem - Can we split water into Hydrogen and Oxygen?
Statement of the problem - Can we split water into Hydrogen and Oxygen?
The reaction caused by an electric current through an electrolyte solution, which is able to split the hydrogen and oxygen in individual atoms. With our DIY model, the battery will have a cathode and an anode, in which the cathode (negatively charged) will attract the Hydrogen ion (positively charged), and anode (positively charged) will attract the Oxygen ion (negatively charged). In one of the models, there is a test tube that is used to trap the gas and to display the 2:1 ratio of Hydrogen and Oxygen, respectively.
Variables
Independent variable: The material used to conduct a current, battery voltage, material mixed into water to create electrolyte solution, the type of model (since we are doing two).
Dependent variable: The rate at which the hydrogen and oxygen is split, the waste substance created. |
Hypothesis
Hypothesis - A statement about what you predict the conclusion for the experiment would be or a description of the product that you plan to produce.
If we are able to conduct an electric current with the batteries and electrolyte solution, we will yield a 2:1 ratio of hydrogen to oxygen through the gases trapped in the test tube. The other factor is the speed of the process, which will be accelerated by the increase of voltage, or the different material used for the electrolyte solution.
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Stage 2 - PLAN
Materials
- 2 metal board pins
- 1 plastic cup
- 9V battery
- 20mL of water
- Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
- 2 test tubes
- 1 Burette stand
Procedure
- Take 2 metal board pins, and poke them at the bottom of a plastic cup, the same distance as the cathode and the anode on the battery.
- Place the cup with the metal board pins on top of the battery, making sure the base of the pins are right on top of the anode and cathode of the battery.
- Add 20 mL of water and 1 heaping tablespoon of sodium bicarbonate in the plastic cup and mix
- Right after, place one test tube on top of each pin.
- Because this model is fragile, make sure you hold the test tube until the model is stable.
- Let the process begin and set a timer for 2 minutes.
- Using a ruler, measure the length of the hydrogen and oxygen, and record.
- Repeat this by swapping out the sodium bicarbonate for sodium chloride.
- Repeat again, now replace the battery with higher voltage and complete it for sodium bicarbonate and sodium chloride.
Video test
Timeline
15/3/2018 - 16/3/2018 - We completed everything in the span of these two days, cause we love to procrastinate. :)
Stage 3 - CREATE
Evidence
Stage 4 - CONCLUDE AND EVALUATE/REFLECT
First attempt model
Conclusion
The hypothesis was not supported 100% based on the results, but it is very close. We can see from the results that the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen is very close a 2:1 ratio, with a 75% error for sodium bicarbonate, and 12.5% error sodium chloride. The 75% may seem like a large error, but the numbers were so small already that even the slightest difference can result in a large percentage error.
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Evaluation/Reflection
We have to say that this was not the best project we could’ve done. We previously had the magnetic levitating device idea which was really cool, but was not executed properly at the last moment, so we resorted to this idea the day before the science fair so we didn’t have much time to polish everything. We were limited in the way we could’ve accurately measure the ratio of hydrogen atoms to oxygen atoms, and had to use a ruler to measure the distance of the test tube that was empty, which was not very reliable, though it did yield us a pretty close result and was able to demonstrate the decomposition of water. The model itself was pretty funky, which caused the test tubes to become slightly lopsided and inconsistent, which could’ve messed up with the results of the measurement. Consequently, these mistakes add up multiplicatively, which contributed to the percentage error that we receive. We admit to not putting enough effort into this project, and the results accurately reflect that. All in all, with what we had, we believed that this was a fairly successful project that just needed more time and effort to polish, and expand on to yield a more accurate product.
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